Deep in the Shadows
by Yisumeng
Summary: What if Naruto never existed? And what if in the beginnings of her life Ruko (female) actually had a cool, nice friend named Luna? Ruko has always been hiding real herself. First with the Hokage's #Kage Henge to hide her gender and features and later her own-created invisible mask Naruto, to hide her real personality. T-rated will later border M (not yet) unbeta'd slow build
1. Prologue, Musings of the Fox

_This is my first attempt on a story, I dont know if I'm even any good at writing, so I'll just do my best._

Because it's my first time writing a book, I'll use the canon.. Pretty much.

Sorry for (probably) slow build of the plot.

 **SUMMARY**

 _What if ~ Naruto never existed? And what if in the beginnings of her life Ruko (female) actually had a cool, nice friend named Luna?_

 _Ruko has always been hiding real herself. First with the Hokage's #Kage_Henge to hide her gender and features and later her own-created invisible mask Naruto, to hide her real personality_

 ** _WARNING DISCLAIMER_**

 ** _English isn't my native tongue /native languages so it can contain errors in grammar and spelling_**

 _Dont like = don't read_

 _# I don't have a beta, as I won't know if this will be a unfinished story or even an succes or not_

 _#I don't own_ ** _Naruto_** _(the anime and manga, including all canon characters)_ _because that's all_ **Masashi Kishimoto's** _work_.

 _This story contains/can contain = *_ _Cursing;_

 _* Inappropriate actions (which includes eventual mentions of rape, abuse, seducing art, killing and so on)_

 _* Can contain... [_ _INSERT POSSIBLE COMPLAINT]_

 ** _Completed 20 March 2017_**

If you'll fall, I'll be there ~ Floor

 _Prologue_

 _Musings of the Fox_

 **~ Unknown location ~**

It was dark, the giant being noted idly as it twisted one of its nine tails. It was a darkness that covered everything, it decided it didn't like the dark. It was boring. Though the being of chakra was supposed to come from the dark, being one of the so called Tailed Beasts... Or that's what the humans call them.

The beast snorted at the thought, humanity thinks of itself to be the most superior kind created by.. NO, even born from God.

Thinking that because of that they know everything about the world.

It had been a dozen decades since the beast - who called itself Kurama- been created by a man with Godlike power. 'The sage of six path's' he was called, 'God of Shinobi' , by his nine tails he swore he even heard those flesh bags call him 'Savior of this world' . Rikudō Sennin, Shinobi no Kami, Kono Yo no Kyūseishu.

Kurama despised those mindless flesh bags called humans. They called his creator God, but they were so into the name calling, they forgot his freaking name! Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, that was the name of the so called God. He left so many good wishes for this little disgusting kind of world, everyone wanted to believe him. To the 6 levels in hell, even he, Kurama, believed in the wonderful future the Ōtsutsuki-human saw.

They were all too into it, to that wonderful dream, to see the harsh reality. It was a wonder, the great being of chakra mused, that in the decade after Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki died the dream hadn't collapsed immediately.

It was also a wonder Kurama hadn't realized it back then, he bitterly reminded himself. He had trusted the humans, and fellow tailed brothers, to stay stable while he was going to rediscover the earth.

While the rediscovering had been absolutely been worth it -He learned how to use alchemy, magic per a little piece of wood they called a staff, learned how to transform etc. - when he got back, he was challenged for a friendly spar by Hashirama Senju, what that cursed man seemingly forgot to tell was that he would try to capture him -The strongest tailed beast- and keep him from the world.

He was too naive, too positive and good believing in those darned flesh bags. Though the Senju was fun to spar with -with his wood release Mokuton- he in the end lost because of holding back, not wanting to kill the supposed Shodai Hokage, -first leader of the Leaf village, Konoha- while that accursed man didn't have that kind restraint.

And so.. He was lying here, in the darkness of one Uzumaki Mito's mind. He could've broken out years ago, but the good natured Kyuubi decided to humor the humans and stayed right where he was.

 **~ Small time skip of about a decade or so ~**

 **~ Sewer-like mindscape ~**

He decided he hated his good natured character. He had lived -if he had to guess, he didn't know anything of the outside world after all- a small 170 years in Uzumaki Mito, when the seal which kept him locked and in the dark, began to crumble. He could see and smell what it's container smelled, too bad he saw a young red-haired woman {definitely another Uzumaki} and shortly afterwards he was dragged into the other human-container. Jinchuuriki was what the humans called it, 'power of the human sacrifice'. Those flesh bags have fallen far to sacrifice their own kind to hold a Yōkai.

If you ignored the fact that he was all chained up, -from the point of his ears to the tip of his tails- it was pretty bearable to live in Kushina's mind. He could watch her life through her eyes, and if he got bored, he would study her memories.

He learned interesting things of that woman. From the possibilities of seals, to the working politics of the human land. After all Kushina was a princess from Uzu, the ninja village hidden in Whirlpools.

Not that she knew about him rummaging through her memories.. She probably thought 'the beast' was like a dumb rabbit, tight roped up and it wouldn't and couldn't hurt a fly. Too bad for her that wasn't the truth.

He actually grown slightly attached to his container. Having gotten the ability to sympathize with her circumstances.

So when one day, the day of her birth giving, of a baby girl mind you, arrived. The chains loosened. The seal almost broke of the pressure. Kurama decided to help the baby's health, not that he'd ever admit it afterwards. Just when the baby was out, Kushina -his poor container- began to lose her life energy, he could feel it. He wanted to help, but everything began to blur.

The only thing Kurama remembered were blood red eyes with three black, spinning tomoes, before he was overwhelmed with an giant bloodlust... 'red.. blood red, blood, BLOOD! MUST KILL.. MUST DESTROY.. EVERYTHING.. Kill all those measy little flesh bags, they must pay the price for capturing me!' And then his memory was blank of everything.

One moment everything seemed to clear suddenly, but when it did Kyuubi almost pissed it's fur. Still a pretty calm reaction at seeing the Shinigami itself in all its glory. After the cruel being grinned at him -at which he shivered- he saw his nails through his previous container Kushina and her blonde lover Minato. Hearing their last words and wishes to have their daughter save and growing up to be a hero, he was overwhelmed with guilt and swore on his tails that he would protect their girl, after he faced the Shinigami and hopefully got to get out alive. He was shocked at how he was in this situation in the first place before feeling himself being pulled into the baby girl from before. Kushina's little vixen...

But musing would do nothing at the moment for the sewer like mind, neither would it stop the assassinations and beatings on his current container called Ruko Uzumaki. He - the powerful being of chakra, created by the so called Shinobi God himself- could only support the Uzumaki healing bloodline and keep the little vixen alive with his chakra.

 ** _To be continued_**

 **Please don't forget to review or add the story to your list, also its my first story -for those who didn't read the discleamers and stuff- ,**

 **so feel free to comment on things I did wrong and stuff.**


	2. 1, Sandaime Hokage

_A small note. I am Not good at describing places or environments, so can I get some tips on that?_

 _Oh yeah.. I added Gandalf only for Shit and giggles, he's not really important in this story. might be mentioned a few times more but not really important._

 ** _DISCLAIMER_**

 _I don't own_ ** _Naruto_** _(the anime and manga, including all canon characters)_ _because that's all_ **Masashi Kishimoto's** _work_.

 ** _Completed 20 March 2017_**

You couldn't handle me, even if I came with instructions ~ Unknown

Chapter 1

Sandaime Hokage's Secret

 **~ Gate of Konohagakure no Sato ~**

The sun shone like it was mocking the Leaf village, it was as if it was laughing at the people below her.

It was just yesterday that many people were slaughtered by the Kyuubi no Yoko. Not everyone knew where it came from, neither did anyone know why the beast attacked.

No, only Hiruzen Sarutobi, the third Hokage, his wife and another few confidentials knew that Uzumaki Kushina had been giving birth to an baby, which in the same time had loosened her seal. Only those who were guarding the lovely pair were burdened with that knowledge.. And most of them died.

 **~ Flashback to yesterday, day of the Kyuubi-attack ~**

~ Minato's dilemma ~

An masked man with the Sharingan, or an advanced version of it, had released the Demon Fox from its seal. Right after that, the man had disappeared in nothing, the only evidence -which was actually really big and evil- was a released, rampaging Nine-tailed Fox outside. Though the most realistic thing to do was following the stranger _and_ put the beast in its place. That idea would practically sacrifice the whole village, so everyone had something better to do than following that mysterious man to who-knows-where.

Yes.. The Kyuubi no Kitsune -The feared Nine-tailed Demon Fox- was free, and extremely thirsty for blood. With all the damage it had done and the many ninja it had devoured and demolished already.

There was no time for big heroic planning. When all hope seemed lost at the village entrance and the Leaf village looked done for. Namikaze Minato -The Fourth Hokage and secretly a new father- had made the dreadful decision to reseal the monster.

The Fourth was known to be a genius in the sealmaking, hell his best work till now was his signature move based on seals: #Hiraishin no Jutsu, an space-time Ninjutsu which allows the user to instantaneously transport themselves to a previously marked location. No, there was not a single problem or dreadful thing about the sealing.

No, the horrible problem was _what_ or more likely _who_ he had to sacrifice to this monster for the rest of his or her life.

An adult was not an option as _it_ was a being of an enormous amount of chakra and would obviously rip apart the chakra pathways of an adult -No even Minato's level of sealing wasn't high enough to protect a body from that- and the said container would die, and that would result in the Kyuubi walking around freely in a year or three. That possibility was out.

Only a child would be able to hold it, with a preference an Uzumaki..

 **~ Small time skip** ** _in_** **the flashback ~**

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, saw how Minato was crying as he took his little baby in his arms. Hiruzen was a smart man, he wasn't called 'The professor' for shit and giggles, oh no. When Minato flashed away, the Third realized what the Namikaze was about to do. Shocked at the realization Minato was prepared to sacrifice his only child to that monster, he went as quickly after him towards the Kyuubi to hold him back of using the seal at cost of this very own life and that of his girl.

He wanted to offer himself, after all the people needed the young 4th Hokage more that they needed an old man.

The professor ran as quickly as was physically possible and was just in time to see a blinding light before the Fox disappeared. He was too late.

No! He could still protect the fourth's wish and protect the girl from any harm. Filled with a new hope to at least do that part right he quickly searched the field with his professional eyes, he had to be fast.

And yes, there lay a small baby girl. Ruko would be her name, Uzumaki Namikaze Ruko. Princess of Uzugakure and legacy of Konoha's Yellow Flash. He ran towards the baby, the ink of the Jinchuuriki-seal was still glistering and slightly wet. As Hiruzen stood before the sniffing baby, he began going through handseals of the strongest disguise-technique he knew.. #Kage_Henge, it is an combination between a Ninjutsu and an Genjutsu. A disguise only the caster and the subject could see through. A disguise could change everything about anything, or in this case anyone, the sent, sight, texture, everything.

As the professor casted the Jutsu, a gentle poof could be heard, proof of the small chakra overload. Instead of the beautiful baby girl with dark indigo locks and clear sky-blue eyes from her father, there was a blonde baby boy with smart, but confused cerulean eyes at his feet instead, as if the baby understood something really important had just changed.

Chubby fingers reached out to the strange, old man and the Sandaime complied by picking up the -now- blonde baby boy into his arms. "Your name will be Naruto Uzumaki, from now on," Hiruzen murmured to the baby "I'm sorry, little Ruko-chan. But it's too dangerous for your real name and gender to be known. Please forgive me for taking your identity." He said with a regretful voice.

He knew the baby couldn't understand what just happened, but why did those cerulean eyes seem to stare accusingly at him. He felt guilty about what he just did, but knew the harsh reality. Instead of what Minato would want to happen, -that his little baby girl would be retrieved as a hero- the old Sarutobi knew that the villagers would want her head instead.

"It will be a secret we will need to keep," He whispered conspiringly to the very male Naruto "for your safety." he added as an afterthought as he walked back to the orphanage. The baby slightly nodded with an intelligent, mischievous gleam in his eyes, what would later be identified as an pranker-at-work-be-careful gleam. But the old man didn't catch it, too much into his own thoughts.

He couldn't take the baby to the council rooms, after all that would give the little baby the attention he wanted to avoid in the first place. So an orphanage would be the next best thing, but what orphanage could he trust..

After dropping of the baby by the best orphanage in town, with the most trustable man he knew, he turned around. Making a silent promise he would take care of the baby as fast as everything from the Fox's attack was cleaned up.

On to his next destination, the council room.

 **~ End Flashback ~**

 **~ On the streets of Konoha ~**

In the end the Sandaime had been too optimistic. His wife had died from the wounds she had suffered in the demons attack, but he didn't even get the time to mourn, because he was shortly after the news called by the council. It was some really important matter, not that the old shocked man really cared, but orders were ordered.

After he was reinstated as leader of the Leaf village, he had much to do. From cleaning up all the streets from remaining rubble, to organizing a mass funeral to all ninja who bravely stood against the Nine-tailed monster. As if that wasn't enough, life decided to throw a few most horrible tricks to proof it could be worse.. and worse it was.

Sarutobi Hiruzen discovered the fact that children went missing in his village. From teenage civilians to orphan toddlers, it had gotten an serious problem. After some research, he got a tip from one of his personal ANBU. It led him to one of his late students' laboratory, a certain snake sage. Sarutobi let him escape in the moment he hesitated to kill his beloved student. Orichimaru defected afterwards. The same genius who he trained to become the next possible Hokage, the Sandaime was devastated.

Immediately afterwards an most important S-rank secret was leaked to the civilian population.. Uzumaki Naruto's Jinchuuriki status. He had to think quick and came up with a law, to "Never speak of Naruto being the container of the Nine-tails unless given permission from the Hokage" The punishment being death.

He hoped that this was the way he could give the child an as normal and innocent childhood as possible. And to try and avoid his peers to prejudge him as well. The chance was small, but he had hope.

Shortly after that was his absolute worst nightmare. The Uchiha-massacre, ordered nonetheless by one of his own most -till then- trusted advisors and old teammate Shimura Danzo. And executed by one of his best ANBU Uchiha Itachi. The second possible next Hokage thrown in the trashcan. Because of this terrible murder, seemingly to test his skills, he had to declare -with an stabbing pain in his old hearth- Itachi a missing Nin, but promised to keep an eye on his little brother Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor.

He was really getting too old for this shit, Third decided, when he mesmerized the past years. He finally, after 5 and an half terribly long years, had time to visit little Naruto in the orphanage. He luckily had finished all papers on Ruko-chan's new name Uzumaki Naruto, -he was so smart- and avoided the little girl-turned-boy from disappearing on the streets _and_ protected the girl from his father's enemies. Which was pretty much a whole country (Iwagakure), and some more.. Yeah, he luckily avoided that mess.

As he had shunshined towards the entrance of the orphanage, pretty useful the bodyflicker technique. As he calmly walked towards the front door and entered the building, a small tingle of a bell could be heard to alarm someone of a visitor.

The orphanage had a spacious entrance hall, the room was colored with all kinds of shades of baby-blue and moss-green. With a high metallic information desk on the right against the wall and some old, uncomfortably straight, wooden chairs on the left side, next to the entrance stood an beige, leather couch which looked pretty old already. In the left corner farther from him was a wall hiding the pretty broad staircase.

'Nothing was really changed' Was Sarutobi's idle thought as he studied the room. He moved on a leisurely pace to the high desk and waited a minute before stumbling could be heard from the staircase. And yes, a short plumb old woman came down, her hair was hidden by a small wimple (what nun wear) with an long, black dress to match. Her eyes widen in recognition when she sees him and almost trips over the last step.

Red from embarrassment she hurries to stand behind the desk and pulls off an nervous smile. "How may I help you, Hokage-sama?" Her voice wavered, but he acted like he didn't hear it and answers the question.

"I am visiting a little boy, he should be 5 years old now" He spoke fondly. He saw her eyes light up in curiosity. "And what is his name, if I may ask?" The old woman asked slightly impatient, but politely. She didn't hide her curiosity though. "Uzumaki Naruto" The reinstated Hokage answered.

Her nice smile was instantly replaced with an ugly sneer, hate was visible in her eyes though you had to be a shinobi to see it. "What would you want with that d-" When cut herself off and answered the question. "He isn't in this orphanage." Was her curt reply. "He left about a year ago" She added with a big fake smile, when she seemingly remembered she was talking to the leader and thus most powerful man of the village. "HOLY SHIT" The Hokage cursed. The woman only gave him an funny and slightly amused look.

The said man paled considerably and hoped against everything that he misunderstood. "Can I talk to your boss? You know, Gandalf?"

Gandalf is an old man, with grey hair already. Sarutobi respected and fully trusted him, as they had fought together in the Third Shinobi war. After the war was over he retired, 'I've seen more than enough blood for the rest of my life, thank you very much.' It was a wise man with a good sense of humor. He was called 'Gandalf the Grey' as he was considered old with his long grey beard and hair. Gandalf was one of the reasons he had placed Ruko-chan in this orphanage in the first place, as Gandalf was a really caring man. He always made sure nobody was missing something. He never judged either. Though maybe that had to do something with his own fashion sense.

But the woman frowned. "You mean the man with grey hair till over his shoulder? He retired about half a year ago" The woman was obviously happy with the seemingly random subject. But she made an big mistake which she shouldn't have ever done, especially not close to the Professor, because it had some people even killed before. She let her guard down as she mumbled "It was time too, the old geezer protected that _thing_ after all.." But the leader of the village heard it.

He saw red.

All the fear for Naruto's wellbeing for the last five and a half years, all the nervosity while walking towards the orphanage turned into anger. He wanted to throw that accursed woman into prison, send her to Ibiki to be tortured into a crying mess. Or better yet.. Kill her himself. And the absolute worst of it all? He couldn't do a single thing as it only was a _opinion_. The woman hadn't broken the law with her opinion. He took some breaths to calm himself and thought of good, better things as it always helped him to calm down. It helped... not much this time.

With years of experience with the teachings of deception, he calmed down his killer intent -which unconsciously had slipped- and steeled himself. "Do you know where Naruto-kun is brought?" He heard himself say with an deceptively calm voice. The woman only paled more at the question and managed to squeak out "No, Hokage-sama, w-we haven't been in contact ever since we kick-.. I mean he _left_."

The Third Hokage, also known as the Professor left, before he would do something he would regret. He realized life liked to f*ck with him, seemingly for its amusement. As he lit tobacco in his favorite pipe, he was left to wonder about his whereabouts and grasp in the dark. Not that he wouldn't take action to try and find her. Oh no way in hell! He would throw all his efforts into trying to find Naruto. He would do everything to correct one of his biggest mistakes.

As his thoughts wandered he unconsciously quickened his pace. He had much to do, that much was known. The council meeting be darned with its minor problems.

'I hope you're save Ruko-chan'

Sarutobi Hiruzen the Shinobi no Kami, Hokage of the Leaf village was terrified of his afterlife. 'Your parents will skin me alive anyway for losing track of you.'

 **To be continued**

 **Please don't forget to review or add the story to your list, also its my first story -for those who didn't read the discleamers and stuff- ,**

 **so feel free to comment on things I did wrong and stuff.**


	3. 2, Gandalf's horror & A Friend's value

_I repeat, I am Not good at describing places or environments, so can I get some tips on that?_

 _I also placed some OC's in this Chapter, because it was kind of strange to write down "And girl1 heavily protested" while you can just put down a simple name..._ _I dont know if it'll be lasting OC's, but I don't think they'll meet Ruko-chan again later in the story... Besides Luna ofcourse (...)_

 _I won't use '- no Jutsu' or '- technique', I'll just write it with an '#-'._

 _The temporary OC's are here:_

1\. Andrea, was the bravest of the group. She was an really pretty, though slightly tomboyish, girl with an **black bowl cut** till just above her ears and pretty **dark blue eyes,** which would be a similar color as the night sky she sometimes liked to watch. (6 years old)

2\. Then there was Daiki, the largest of the group. An boy with **silver** -grey eyes and **short, messy brown hair** with a few green highlights on the tips from the 'girls want highlights in their hair, but aren't sure it will look good, so they tested it on Daiki'-incident. Though Daiki was a larger and older, he was the more silent type. The kind of person who is there when you need him, but doesn't talk unless he thinks it's needed. (6,5 years old)

3\. Akira is the smartest of the group. She had shoulder long **light blonde hair** , most of the time in an ponytail, almost like the Yamanaka's and **pink almost red eyes**. She walks around like she owns the place, but is in reality extremely shy with new people and quickly afraid she has done something wrong. (4,5 years old)

4\. Let's not forget Hibiki, she's mostly a girl who supported the person she admired the most, which in this case would be Andrea. She was like an faithful dog, following the most dominant one of the group, her 'boss'. With her **sandy-blonde hair** and **moss-green eyes** with her ever present **purple glasses**. (4 years old)

5\. Koji was a small boy, the youngest of the group. He probably only comes with the group to keep the mischief as less as possible. He is such a sweet boy. He had a **long purple hair** in a loose ponytail to his upper back and he had the most beautiful **amber eyes, which seem to be golden sometimes** when he is happy or is standing in the sunlight. (4 years old)

6\. And Luna.. **Long hair white** as the moon, **violet eyes** like the dawn. She is a really enthusiastic, innocent and at the same time mischievous kid with an happy-go-lucky attitude. She absolutely loves pranking her caretakers and 'taking revenge' on nasty people. She is heavily against any form of bullying or being mean. (4,5 years old)

He meets Luna later on

 ** _DISCLAIMER_**

 _I don't own_ ** _Naruto_** _(the anime and manga, including all canon characters)_ _because that's all_ **Masashi Kishimoto's** _work_.

 ** _Completed 26 April 2017_**

Don't think of yourself as an ugly person, think of yourself as a beautiful monkey ~ Unknown

Chapter 2

Gandalf's horror & An Friend's value

 **~ Orphanage in Konohagakure no Sato ~**

 **~ 4 years after the Kyuubi attack ~**

'Gandalf the Grey', that was what he was called by the children. Oh he loved the children so much, yes, yes. He loved to play and take care of them, but sometimes. Sometimes he was reminded that children, how innocent they may seem, can also be the most cruel beings on this earth. Not any tailed beast, not a annoyed wife finding her husband late from work again, could match their cruelty. No, and this was just another example of that argument to sad fully support this statement.

Children always were straight forward and honest till they have come to a certain age, which meant when little Akira somehow changed from an nice sweet girl he knew, to an leader and brain of a small group whom bullied little Naruto-kun by calling him names.

He was upset.. and terribly disappointed in her, no _them_ , when he saw it happen. It seemed like it wasn't the first time either by how confident Akira, Andrea and Hibiki looked while they talked about 'the loser' and what they did to him. The boys who they always played with weren't there either, which meant they either didn't know about the girls' activities or they gave up on trying to stop them and concluded they didn't want to be involved in any kind of way. He didn't like either option.

He took the little group apart and invited them to his study room for some privacy to talk. He saw from the corner of his eyes that the boys, Daiki and Koji, quietly joined the group for support.

After he closed the door behind them, he walked to his wooden desk and slightly leaned against it. Taking a deep breath to calm his inner turmoil of emotions he asked with an as calm and patient voice possible on the moment. "Akira-chan, why did you call Naruto-kun names? Don't you remember what I taught everyone? Your words can hurt really much and you said some awful things just now."

Akira slightly flinched at his disappointed and reprimanding tone, but looked determined to justify herself in front of her peers. She after all was considered the smartest of the group, even though she was blond. Besides, she had her friends with her, even the boys joined in for support. She wouldn't let their efforts be in vain, Believe it!

"But Gandalf-san, Giichi-san and some others said that he is a monster and we shouldn't as.. assi.. assasiotee.. " The little girl frowned slightly, the word was on the tip of her tongue, she just knew it!

While she was busy trying to find the right word, Gandalf's brain went in overdrive. 'Giichi said that?' He thought fully confused. It wasn't only inappropriate to talk badly about an specific child in front of other children, Gandalf had expected Giichi to be less narrow minded, being an retired shinobi after all. He was broken from his musings when Akira continued her excuse for badmouthing and bullying an fellow orphan.

"Associate with him, he would have a really bad effect on our behavior." A proud look was on her face, because she had put several _really_ difficult words in an good sentence. She fully believed that Gandalf would understand why she had called Naruto names, like 'Demon', 'monster' and the sorts. After all, their caretakers were the ones who called the boy those words in the first place and their caretakers should be right! .. right? .. Though she still didn't really understand what an so called 'demon' was supposed to mean. She guessed it was something evil as the caretakers always said that with absolute 'lemon-faces'.

But Gandalf's face didn't look proud, oh no, he was absolutely terrifying with that angry expression on his face. Akira hid behind an head taller boy called Daiki and nudged her best friend, Andrea forward to do the rest of the talking. After all, she reasoned with herself, Andrea is the bravest of the group and she already had said her part of the story. She was absolutely _not_ hiding behind Daiki, believe it! Daiki is just the strongest of them all.

"Who else called Naruto-kun something bad?" Gandalf said in an dangerously low voice. The temperature seemed to hit rock-bottom as Gandalf spoke the words. The lights flickered off and then on again, creating an awful scary mood in the room. Gandalf suddenly noticed the terrified expressions on the children's faces and realized he had unconsciously released some killer intent. He immediately dropped it, as his features softened in slight regret at scaring the group so much.

"I'm not angry at you," He spoke softly, sincerely. They let out sighs of relieve. To make sure his point across without letting them off the hook he continued. "but I'm disappointed you would actually accuse a fellow person of being an evil 'Monster', while you can clearly see he is just like us. He's got arms, legs, eyes, ears, and most important of all..." He let a small silence fall to make sure they would remember it. "He has emotions. Demons and monsters don't have any emotions, they are like evil and smarter beasts trying to destroy everything on their way."

Gandalf let another silence fall. The girls shifted guiltily and with great unease on their feet as he let his gaze fall on everyone in the group respectively. "Did anyone here see Naruto-kun trying to destroy everything in his path? Or did nobody ever see Naruto-kun cry or laugh? After all, monsters don't laugh or cry as they don't have any feelings, correct?" Their heads just lowered further in guilt.

"B-But why would.." Koji trailed off uncertainly, before his big, warm amber eyes steeled themselves for what he was going to ask. "But why would almost everyone call him an monster when you tell us he isn't?" Koji had spoken with crystal-clear voice, though you could hear his confusion and frustration on the matter. The rest of the group stayed silent, but send curious gazes as well.

Gandalf had a problem, that much was obvious.

First of all, he couldn't fire all the caretakers working here, he also didn't want to ask _another_ favor of Hiruzen. 'What to do, what to do...' as he slowly tapped his fingers against the table. Secondly he also needed to tell these kids of the caretakers' reasoning, without breaking the law. 'Oh well.. First things first', wasn't one of his favorite motto's for nothing.

"The caretakers blame Naruto-kun for something completely out of his control." He began, as he stood in an very teacher-like stance. He pondered for an moment of how to slightly change his explanation for the children to understand.

"For example. If you were born a Princess of an far away country, or the oldest son of an important ruler like the Daimyo. You would have gotten all kinds of lessons on how to rule kingdom, correct?" The kids were all enthusiastic with the idea and nodded vigorously. "But if you were born in an civilian family and your parents would own an clothing shop..." Gandalf slightly trailed off to give the group an chance to think up an logical conclusion. "And how can that be connected to Naruto-kun's situation?

A look of dawning came on Akira's facial expression, while the others were still scrunching up their face in thought. "Well? What has this to do with the hate from the old hags?" Andrea finally asked, giving up the hard thinking. After all, why breaking her brain when you could just ask. "Akira, would you like to explain to your friends?" Gandalf directed Akira's leadership and intelligence from bullying, because the nuns do, to thinking on her own and react accordingly.

Akira was slightly startled at the question, she looked down in reaction and had to fight her habit to bite her lip. "Well.." She began, not really sure where to begin with explain. Especially when she wasn't sure she was right. When she shyly looked up again, she saw the expectant expressions on her friends' faces and she steeled herself. "In what position and where you get born is something out of our control. I think Gandalf-san wants to tell us it is the same with Naruto-kun's situation."

This time Gandalf looked proud of her. With a soft smile he spoke his approval, "If you didn't have that blonde hair and wasn't so determined, I would have mistaken you for an Nara." Akira blushed at the complement and ignored Andrea's jealous scowl. "I knew that, I just wanted to test you guys," Andrea spat out.

Gandalf ignored the jealousy for more important things, like making sure to know which nuns he should keep an eye on. "Who were the nuns who called Naruto-kun an demon?" He asked, while he walked around the desk to sit down and note down all the guilty people. Andrea answered quickly, hoping on a complement as well, "Almost everyone, they mostly call him names when you aren't there, I've also seen the nuns give him punishment when.. " She face had an horrified expression as she slowly trailed off. "Oh my Log! They never got him out, I haven't seen him since yesterday"

Gandalf had a really bad feeling when Andrea ran off with those words. He quickly jumped in action, shinobi instincts kicking in, following the direction she ran in. He idly noticed that the rest followed him as he ran through the halls, breaking his own rules. The kids almost bumped into him when he suddenly stopped in front of locker, with Andrea waiting.

"The nuns put him in here, Gandalf-san! He wasn't there with supper yesterday, neither was he there with breakfast. I thought he just ate earlier or later to do the chores in here.." Andrea confirmed his nightmare of being true, as he had left earlier yesterday and trusted the nuns to take care of the rest. And today he was supposed to be taking an day off, but he didn't have anything better to do, so eventually came anyway. It was an cruel kind of good luck that he had heard the group talking.

Gandalf pulled out a ring with keys and picked a small, blue one with practiced ease and opened the locker. He shooed the children a little bit back to give Naruto breathing room. "Naruto-kun?" The little boy was sitting in the fetal pose and his head down, red strands stood out in between his blonde hair. ' _Definitely blood'_ Gandalf was shocked when Naruto slightly lifted his head. Though not a single physical wound could be seen, his eyes.. they were so extremely empty. Empty of all emotions, seemingly tuning everything and everyone out. Pushing back his anger at the nuns, he carefully took the boys feet and dragging him out a little till he could reach the shoulders.

As he gently set Naruto down on the ground, pushing him slightly so he leaned against the wall and nudged the little blonde. "Everything will be alright now, I'm here and I'll make sure such a terrible thing won't ever happen again, I promise. And I never break my promises!"

Gandalf the Grey, was going to make sure this would **_Never_** happen again. Not on his watch.

 **~5 years after the Kyuubi attack~**

Uzumaki Naruto decided that he absolutely hated doing chores. Chores in itself weren't too bad. No it was the fact he had to do it every single 140 hours per week -with 4 hours per day to sleep and have 5 small breaks of 10 minutes to eat and rest. _For the last twenty five_ ** _weeks_**.

It's been about 5 to 6 months the old nice man Grey had been fired of the orphanage. Retr... Retire..ment.. Retirement was what they called it. Gandalf was indeed an old man and he definitely deserved his rest, Naruto decided. But why did he have to leave completely?

Gandalf had been the only person who actually gave the boy genuine smiles and he didn't call him names like "Demon spawn" and "Monster". His small group of friends gave him real smiles as well of course, but they were adopted one by one, till he was the only one left, together with Gandalf-san.

He really owns the man his life and happiness. After the locker incident, everything went uphill. Instead of his self-taught talking and reading, he finally learned how to do it properly. From etiquettes and making tea (He was forced to learn it because of the girls, "Incase one of us is some lost Royalty, we must know how to behave") to playing tag.

Yes, he owned his very being to the old man Grey, very unlike the nuns of course. They sent him looks full of hate, 'forgot' to feed him, or even set him apart for doing nothing wrong. Or they just ignored him. He couldn't decide what hurt him more, the hateful gazes or the cold shoulder many gave him. But it became bearable with his new friends and with the support from the head of the orphanage, not a single nun tried something funny.

That all changed when Gandalf retired. What he knew, maybe instinctively, was when Gandalf closed the door behind him for the very last time, he was screwed. Screwed multiplied by an hundre- no Thousand times! The predatory gaze from the new head of the orphanage was the first hint at that. He had met the new nun before and she seemed really nice actually, giving him candy and toys to play with. But as Naruto looked back at it all, it was just a play, to fool him and Gandalf.

The said retired man, settled down in a place, somewhere far into the Konoha forest. At least, that's the last thing he heard about his whereabouts. Afterwards he was dumped into the 'turn into a good boy' schedule, which he translated into 'turn into a slave' torture.

He sighed more heavily. And got back to work, after all. He wasn't one to give up and neither did he want to show what the working did to him. Though he absolutely hated cores and made everything ache when he turned to bed, it also made him stronger than an average boy. Gandalf was a ninja. A really strong one, as people always looked up at him. He had survived the 3th Shinobi war and had told many heroic story's to him and his friends, though he also did warn the children that life as a Shinobi (male ninja) was rough. Even more for a Kunoichi (female ninja) as she would have to use her body in the more 'diplomatic and information gathering' ways.

But Naruto was a really determined boy. He wanted to be strong so he could be a ninja, if he was a ninja those nuns would have to look up to him. He would be stronger and better after all. He let a small smile slip as he worked even harder and faster at his chores.

When he was strong enough he would leave this place, there was nothing of value left here after all. Everyone he cared for was gone and he could take the few things he valued with him. _A grandiose idea_ if he said so himself.

 ** _~Half a year later~_**

 ** _~On the streets of Konoha and in its Sewers~_**

A brown haired teenaged boy was walking through the streets, he was nothing special. With civilian clothing and average posture, not particular handsome nor ugly. The perfect disguise for Uzumaki Naruto to go grocery shopping. Naruto already found out that the nuns didn't seem to be the only ones who held a grudge against him. He had gotten 6 marks on his face for that innocent thought. 3 marks for each cheek, a birthday present from an drunk. It had hurt like hell and somehow, the scars had stayed.

Which would be a logical thing for any other child, but at the same time a really strange thing for Uzumaki Naruto as he never 'scarred'. He had gotten a lot of beatings from the nuns, which more than once also included sharp and pointy things. He had _never_ gotten an single scar. But back to the present.

The boy was currently strolling from the direction of the ninja academy, not that it had to say something as the street had enough turns for the boy to have come from another place. But Naruto actually had visited the ninja academy, just like every other day since he found out it was a huge source of information to get stronger. The Henge he wore was, was proof of it. He could use chakra and with that #Henge and #Kawarimi, two of the basic jutsu's you had to know as academy-graduate. Hell.. he even knew some Taijutsu kata's.

He couldn't get the #Bunshin right though. The #Transformation technique was pretty useful to shop safe around civilians and the #replacement technique was useful when a drunk tried to grab him.. or when he wanted to get somewhere practically undetected. Yes undetected, he had trained the techniques so much that he now could replace himself with air, his current maximum distance was up to about a mile or two. Too bad his minimum distance without overloading the technique was half a mile.

Wait.. maybe that was his problem! If he overloaded the #Kawarimi then he'd just get an awful lot of smoke, but if he overloaded the Bunshin... _I have to try this out today_. His stomach growled seemingly in protest. _after I have eaten something. Where shall I go to eat._ As he was planning the rest of his day, he shouldn't waste valuable time after all he continued walking with an almost lazy Nara-like slouch to the market for some food, a girl almost ran into him. Well.. She _did_ run into him, but he could've dodged if he hadn't been so deep in his thoughts.

The girl and boy came on the ground at the same time with an "Oef!" Naruto quickly stood up and held out his hand for the girl to grab. "Sorry, I wasn't looking at where I was going." He apologized. "My name is Maki, and yours if I may ask?" He asked the white haired girl in serene curiosity. He used the name he had come up with weeks ago, because 'Naruto' gave too much away and so did the 'Uzu' part. So he simply cut it away and called himself Maki in public

"Luna is the name. Nice to meet'cha!" She said with a huge, bright smile on her face. "Where was a beautiful young lady like you going, in such a hurry? In the early morning none the less." 'Maki' asked the girl almost accusingly with a friendly, teasing expression on his face. She only giggled at his antics and outright laughed at the faux-scowl. "I was heading for ramen. It's the Log's food, I tell ya! Sent straight out of heaven!" She beamed at him so broad that her violet eyes were almost hidden.

"Would you care if I'd join you?" Seeing her questioning expression, he hastily added, "Today I normally meet up to eat with my friends, but they were busy so I was about to go take some quick food, before I would go home." A lie of course, but she didn't have to know that. She nodded with understanding.

"By the way, what is ramen?" It was absolutely wrong question to ask in front of her, Naruto saw it immediately as her face scrunched up in horror and a fierce glint fell over her eyes. Before the boy could blink he was dragged by his arm at almost ninja-speed to who-knows-where and when he realized that, a grin appeared on his face as he began to run beside her. After all, he'd preferred to not look like a ragdoll being dragged away.

"Ichiraku Ramen" He read out loud from the flaps. "One's comfort/relief noodles? You sure this is the right place and not some spa or something?" He got pushed inside, so he took that as a 'yes, this is the right place'. Inside there was a typical family restaurant, with a long, straight table in front of him with high barstools. The decoration was cozy with a few posters to add. Choosing a chair slightly out of sight he sat down and patted the seat next to him for Luna.

"Heya! Oji-san! Get me some Miso and Konkotsu ramen please." That Luna's greeting was boisterous and loud was actually quite an understatement. "Old man? Chicken and pork at the same time?" Naruto didn't follow her. _'Maybe it's her family and she ordered for me at the same time..'_ Luna sat down next to him, eyes sparkling in the thought of Ramen.

"Well..?" She looked up at him expectantly. "Well what?" Shot Naruto back. Her violet eyes shot up in a familiar 'what-you-don't-know-are-you-stupid' kind of way. Naruto didn't like that look. As she looked back at him she sighed. "Aren't you going to order something?" She asked flatly "I thought you were hungry?" He looked back at her with a strange look in his chocolate-brown eyes, "You mean when you ordered chicken _and_ pork, you were only ordering for yourself..." It was more a statement than a question.

"Of course! Ramen is the best, why wouldn't I order _at least_ two bowls?" Naruto only laughed and scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "I'll take a Miso as well." He called over the counter to an old man with short grey hair and a white little hat on.

As they waited for the ramen to be ready they talked about a lot of things getting acquainted to each other. He learned that she was the only child in an small civilian family. Her mother was bedridden with an particular sickness and father was always gone traveling to keep their little clothing shop up-to-date.. and to be able to pay the medicines for her mother. She had many hobby's... He didn't even remember half of it, but guessed it was only logical with her father always traveling around and buying little things to bring back home. Her family originally came from the Hidden in Sand village, but as said before they traveled.. A _lot_.

When food was served, "Lady's first", he was happy he had waited with offering to pay for her too. Gentleman or not, he was _not_ going to give out _all_ of his money, because a self-made-rule. The counter was filled with empty bowls, before Naruto could even break his chopsticks. Though he definitely liked that about her, she wasn't shy to eat because she was dieting -starving- herself.

But his conclusion of this all was. Luna gets enough payed to afford her stomach, ramen is indeed delicious and he liked to meet Luna again, only in his real form.

And so. After a month of meeting each other, he reveal himself to Luna and told her his real name, he even explained the reason of why he hid his identity in the first place -under Luna bribing him-. But the only thing he hadn't told her was where he lived, but after that was all settled and done. They were best friend afterwards. They met many times and after some convincing from Luna's side, he began openly meeting her in his own body.

 ** _~ Small time skip (few month's) ~_**

A small child comfortably strolled through Konoha's sewers. The kid couldn't be any older than 5, maybe 6, but he walked around like he owned the place. Maybe he did, but nobody was there to see him and to judge. The child had short, untamed, blonde hair and big, expressive cerulean eyes and an slightly tanned skin. Naruto and Luna had just separated and while Naruto had insisted to walk her home, she had just shrugged him off. ("I'm not a princess, you don't need to escort me home, Uzumaki-dono" She had said teasing him, before she waved and they both turned around to go home.)

Naruto had advanced in leaps and bounds with his shinobi-skills, he could now make more than 10 miles with his #Kawarimi and he had managed to get his #Henge solid. It had been an big pain in the ass to come up with it, but it was _definitely_ worth it! This way he could even fool the retired ninja in the weapon shop, he could finally practice with real sharpened weapons to throw, instead of the old ones he had picked up in the Genin trainingfields. He smiled at the thought as he pushed a door to his home. He also managed to make Bunshin, though the smallest amount of _healthy, good-looking_ Bunshin still was 15 Bunshin. A big improvement from the 90 from a few months ago.

Inside was a old room. On the right side stood a huge and broad cabinet filled to the brim with all kinds of scrolls. The left side was obviously the 'weapon department', filled with kunai, senbon, training dummies, even some flash-tags and explosive-tags from the survival grounds. In front of him was an self-made desk, also made from wood, -which he could use as an bed if he added some blankets- with an chair. He even had an small mirror on the wall next to the door.

It wasn't an particular big place, but that wasn't really needed for an 5 year old Naruto. The place was more than satisfying for the young blond. He still remembered how he one faithful was thrown into the sewers after another heavy beating. He had been unconscious and when he woke up, he didn't know where he was, so he had gone to discover this strange place.

When he had stumbled on an seemingly old maintenance room, he had decided that _this_ would be his hide-out. After all, no one was going to look for an 'demon' in the dirty smelling sewers and the room didn't look like it was used in years. After dusting up the room and throwing out things that weren't useful anymore. He was left with an beautiful home. A week after he had found his home, he began spying on the academy and taking scrolls with him from the 'garish' to his hide-out. He met Luna a month after that.

To say the least Naruto was proud with himself. As he grabbed one scroll he'd found nearby the Hyuuga compound and began reading about the theory on chakra pathways and how to use it to paralyze an body. Which meant.. _Much_ theory about anatomy.

Naruto woke up early in the morning, after studying late into the evening from several scrolls. He ran in his underwear to an river to quickly freshen himself up and clothed himself in his blue short-sleeved shirt and grey pants. Rushing towards the ninja academy to not miss any new information, he grapped an apple from the market and Henged into the brown-haired Maki.

The gates were in sight, but he went to an large tree instead, just like the other times. Jumping into the tree and climbing to the second floor with the academy graduates. He was just in time to see Iruka, the sensei from the last two years, walking into the room. Using the Big-head technique and an good placed shout get everyone in their seats and tightlipped, he placed down a few papers and began his lecture.

While Naruto may think he was well hidden, Iruka wasn't an Chuunin for nothing. He could sense the boy, though he didn't recognize him. Iruka knew that there was an extra teenager who attended the classes. The mysterious boy always was just in time for the lecture, but was gone when it was time for the Taijutsu portion. While Iruka was really curious about him and had already tried to catch him, his attempts were always in vain, as the boy left every time to Log-knows-where.

So Iruka decided to just help him in his work as he always had the windows open and lectured with an slightly louder voice than normal. The brown haired teacher was happy to know at least _one_ person was listening to his lectures, as he looked around the class. He was an mystery indeed.

"And this way the First Hokage ended the Great Shinobi War" Iruka ended his lecture. Just in time too as the bell rang signaling a small break before the Taijutsu fights. The boy was gone the moment the bell rang.

After Iruka-sensei's lecture came to an end. He continued his daily routine, which meant going to unoccupied training grounds to collect new shuriken, kunai and if he was lucky, some senbon and tags. And then meeting up with Luna by the fountain eating together -probably ramen- and sparring afterwards.

He is currently waiting for Luna to show up. He is growing concerned as she was already half an hour late and normally she is _never_ that late. He will wait just another 15 minutes to be sure, before going to her home to search. _'Maybe she forgot the time'_ he mused. After waiting the longest 15 minutes in his life, he was almost flying towards Luna's house. He'd been there before, sometimes to pick her up and other times to bring her home. Though hasn't met her parents yet.

Gently knocking on the door, he called out. "Luna are you there?" He was growing more worried with the minute, as the door slowly opened and revealed an empty and dark hallway. Getting an eerie feeling he hastily checked the house, nobody was in the kitchen, neither in the bedrooms or the living room. Everything was completely silent, empty and deserted. _Luna, she is gone'_ He covered his face with his hands and slit down an wall. _'Luna, my only friend is gone'_ Naruto suddenly stood up and ran onto the streets. _'She can't be completely gone out of Konoha, there is no way she would just leave without an word. We are best friend after all!'_

 ** _To be continued_**

 **Please don't forget to review or add the story to your list, also its my first story -for those who didn't read the discleamers and stuff- ,**

 **so feel free to comment on things I did wrong and stuff.**


End file.
